Currently, wastewater treatment or processing decisions are based on pH, dissolved oxygen and biological oxygen demand of the water. These are narrow ranged indices and do not present information about complete biological status of water. There is no set protocol governing the addition of chemicals to wastewater. The management as well as operators use this information and decide the processing steps based on their ‘gut feeling’ or experience. As a result, many a times the addition a chemical to correct one problem creates another problem(s). As noted by the inventor at Detroit Wastewater Treatment Plant, often this practice leads to catastrophic results with serious legal violations and technical problems costing millions of dollars.
The inventor is proposing a logical alternative where all and any wastewater processing decisions are to be taken based on the real-time oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) status of water. ORP is a broad ranged index and indicates direct and complete biological status of water. Technical reasoning and experimental data has been presented to prove that whatever had been done was wrong and that serious money can be saved if rules of ORP are followed. Various changes in practices and mechanical designs have been suggested. A computer-software is suggested to be prepared which can provide a better control on the use of resources based on real time status of ORP.
An entirely new approach to optimize or raise the ORP value of water by various means before as well as after its entry into wastewater treatment facility has been suggested. This patent teaches a logical concept which can aid in better wastewater processing at significantly low cost.
Most of the existing wastewater facilities are designed to collect all the influents in a preliminary treatment area, where large debris and solids are screened out of the wastewater. The remaining water is allowed to pass through a primary treatment area where it is subjected to chemical treatments (for example, addition of ferrous chloride for phosphate removal and some polymers to facilitate floe formation). The water is then mixed with a bacterial biomass, and passes through an aeration phase. The movement of water is then slowed down in large tanks called secondary clarifiers, to allow settling of sludge, and the decanted water is subsequently disinfected by various means.
Wastewater treatment decisions currently are mainly based on parameters like pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) etc which are, in fact, contributing partners to a single and superior parameter called Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP), which has not been understood and exploited properly. Moreover, the former parameters have a narrow range and do not clearly reveal the precise biological status of the water.